One of the best parts of the IWMF Adelante Fellowship to Guadalajara, Mexico, has been to learn from journalists based here in Guadalajara. We’ve had the opportunity to work with, and learn from, a group of journalists with years of experience reporting on human rights, corruption, culture, violence, and—of course—tequila here in Jalisco and in the surrounding regions. On our first night here in Guadalajara, the program also arranged for a short presentation from a journalist focused on corruption and money laundering investigations.

After the presentation, we all went to dinner together at a restaurant in what appeared to be a new, fancy building. As everyone chatted over dinner, we asked him what projects he was working on at the moment.

“Pues…” he began. “I’m investigating corruption and real estate deals.”

We asked him in what part of the city and he smiled.

“In fact, in this building right here,” he replied.

Laura Gottesdiener and Amy Littlefield were Fall 2018 Mexico Reporting Fellows.